Re: Good sources for Packard Die-Cast Models

Posted by DEREK BELBIN On 2016/8/23 22:01:31

You are incredibly lucky to have not only an early Firebird,but something as rare as a Thunderbird prototype.I bet the guys at Vintage Guitar Magazine would jump at the chance to do a feature on such a scarce and iconic pair of beauties.Prototypes of just about any guitar are quite rare and always are worth quite a premium over the regular production run guitars-especially such relatively rare birds as the Thunderbird.

I had totally forgotten that Ray Dietrich had designed the Firebirds and Thunderbirds,in fact my dream guitar is the '63 Firebird VII like Phil Manzanera of Roxy Music has played for over 40 years.I have a Custom Shop Epiphone Firebird V that I have replaced the standard Probuckers with Craig Vineham Mini-Humbuckers wound to the exact specifications as the earliest Gibson Firebirds.Although I don't have a Phil Manzanera Firebird clone,at least I have a near clone of a guitar belonging to another guitar hero of mine, Johnny Winter....now if only I could play the guitar with the incendiary passion he released when he played.

Keep on pickin' and grinnin'.

BTW: I have the same color combination in a 1/32 model of a 1955 Packard Caribbean convertible like you have pictured,from Signature Models.The detail is pretty good and it even has steerable wheels.